BlackBerry strikes deal with US govt

BlackBerry may have managed to keep itself in business for a while as it is still the favoured choice of the US government for its secure mobile phones.

The struggling Canadian manufacturer has secured a deal with the American Defence Department and it has sent sales for its handsets soaring. The Defence Information Systems Agency (DISA) will be buying 80,000 BlackBerry smartphones at the end of January. The devices will feature a specialised military app store and be secure enough to safely handle unclassified documents.

BlackBerry has been the go-to company for the US government as it has improved security features such as email encryption, and a suite of enterprise and productivity features. President Barack Obama is well known for his use of the company's handsets.

However, more recently, both Google and Apple have gained the same security clearance as BlackBerry's BB10 software. This caused many to speculate that this could mark the end of the company's reign over government departments but recent figures show that its established position is its lifeline.